


Actors Without Techies

by Styx_in_the_mud



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Theatre, Backstage, F/M, Gen, Humor, Jim Centric, Techies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-17
Updated: 2013-11-17
Packaged: 2018-01-01 21:14:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1048633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Styx_in_the_mud/pseuds/Styx_in_the_mud
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>"Actors without techies would be standing naked, in the dark, trying to be heard"</em> (or some variation thereof) is an oft quoted saying in many a drama club, and for good reason. Jim is Stage Manager are Starfleet High, and things aren't going according to plan on opening night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Actors Without Techies

**Author's Note:**

> Some of these events are based on true events that occurred in my high school drama club (I was a techie myself until I moved out of the country) and let me just say that stage managers are damn scary. They're basically the people who make sure the entire production doesn't go to hell. If you want a comfortable life in theater, you absolutely _do not_ piss off the SM. The quote in the summary was thrown around a lot in my school, but I think it's really a bastardized version of this one, by Mark Leslie: "An actor without techies is a naked person standing in the dark trying to emote. A techie without actors is a person with marketable skills."
> 
> P.S I don't own any of these characters, though I do treat them as my personal dance monkeys every now and then

Sometimes, being the stage manager of the Starfleet High drama club was an incredibly rewarding experience for Jim Kirk. Other times, it was going to make him go prematurely grey (A fate that had already befallen their director, Mr.Pike). This was one of the latter.

* * *

 

"Er, Jim" crackled a voice in his ear "We might have a wee bit o a problem"  
Jim tried not to freak out, when Scotty said "a wee bit o a problem" it could mean anything from a fused lamp to the lighting booth being on fire (It was incident known to them as "fuse box catastrophe of 2010" and the mere mention of it made the seasoned techies pale).  
"What's the problem Scotty?"  
"It's the lights, lad, the amber and rose are working fine, but there's a problem with the blue and green."  
"Care to elaborate?"  
"They jus no turnin on"  
"What! But the entire first act is supposed to be under a blue light!"  
There was a noise of agreement on the other end of the earpiece.  
"Could it be a fuse?"  
"Nah, I don't think so, my money's on a loose connection"  
He sighed; of course this would happen on opening night.  
"In the movers or the source fours?"  
"The movers"  
Well that was one thing going his way then.  
"Get Keesner to take a look at them, see if he can fix it"  
"Aye"  
There was silence, only to be interrupted by another voice.  
"Jim, we have problem" came the clipped, no-nonsense tones of Nyota from the sound booth.  
He groaned quietly "What's wrong Uhura?"  
"The lead's headset has a really crappy sound quality. I keep getting feedback, and when I don't there's scratchiness in the audio"  
Jim winced "Only in the lead's mic?"  
"Yup"  
"When did you find out?"  
"Three minutes ago."  
He took a deep breath. "It's okay" he muttered to himself "this is what rehearsals are for. It's going to be alright, no one will faint, die, or spontaneously combust. Probably"  
"What was that, I didn't quite catch it?"  
"Nothing, nothing. Keep working on it, if you can't fix it in the next" he checked his watch "ten minutes; tell him to borrow the headset from one of the minor characters between scenes."  
"What about the last scene? Everyone with a mic is on stage."  
"We'll figure that out when we get to it."  
He could imagine her rolling her eyes and couldn't suppress a smirk  
"What ever you say _captain_ "  
"Love you too Nyota"  
The eye-roll was almost audible this time.  
Any suitable response was cut-off by yet another voice.  
"Jim, have you seen the townspeople costumes anywhere?" asked Janice Rand, sticking her head around the corner.  
"No. Wait they haven't come yet? I could have sworn we had them for the dress rehearsal."  
"We did, but they're not in the costume room."  
" _Shit_."  
"Yup."  
"Okay, we can deal with this; it's not that big of a deal."  
Janice looked at him skeptically, and he resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands. "Okay, have you got the others dressed yet?"  
She shook her head  
"Then go do that, and get a freshman to look for them again. If you still can't find them, recycle the old "bar scene" costumes from last year's fall musical." She gave him a curt nod and headed off, presumably to find a freshman to yell at. She had just rounded the corner, blonde hair whipping behind her, when his earpiece crackled to life again.  
"Jim," came the grave voice of his ASM  
"Spock, I have already spoken to Scotty, Janice and your girlfriend, and I am questioning my life choices. I swear if you tell me there's been some sort of problem, issue, or complication, I'm going to scream."  
There was an eerie silence at the other end of the line.  
With an air of infinite patience, which Jim would later congratulate himself for, he spoke to his ASM "what's wrong Spock?"  
"Carol says the pulleys are jammed"  
Jim rubbed a hand over his face. If the pulleys were jammed then they wouldn't be able to raise the swinging platform in the first act, and the effect of the lead's dialogue would be ruined.  
"Any idea what's causing it?"  
"None"  
"Then would you be a dear and go take a look at it?" he indulged in a wicked smirk, nothing made his (usually stoic) ASM flustered like a well placed term of endearment.  
The other boy gave a small huff, which was Spock speak for ' _I am merely indulging your childish behavior Jim Kirk_ '. Jim decided to take it as agreement.  
"I knew I could count on you"  
There was a sigh and a clipped "Yes Jim" and Jim took the moment of blessed silence to bang his head repeatedly against the nearest wall.

* * *

 

"What the hell is going on?" Jim whispered, poking his head into the corridor behind the stage

Scotty and Keesner had managed to fix the lights (much to everyone's relief), and while Nyota hadn't managed to equalize the lead's headset, she went ahead with the plan to have him switch with a minor character between scenes. Janice had terrified a freshman into looking for the missing costumes, and they were found in a dark corner of the back of the costume room, near the costumes from last year's spring show. Jim made a mental note to have a talk with the techies in charge of clean-up. Carol and Spock, using their combined genius had sorted out the issues with the pulley, and the play had gone off without a hitch... until now.

Pavel and Hikaru were standing in the corridor looking absolutely panicked,  
Pasha cradling the head of a papier-mâché statue, which would be center stage in the next scene, close to his black-shirted chest, and Hikaru bracing the body, which looked like it was going to fall off its stand.

"Ze head fell off." said Chekov  
"I can see that, what I want to know is how."  
"Ze back-left leg of ze pedestal snapped without warning"  
"The whole statue hit the wall." added Sulu  
"And zen, well..."  
Jim swore. He added the prop department to the list of people he would be telling off after the play. Who made a pedestal out of _balsa wood_ when they had plywood lying around? "Can you fix it?"  
The two shared a look.  
"We can do zat" said Chekov with a nod.  
"Good. You have two minutes."  
They looked even more panicked at that announcement, and Jim took pity on them.  
"Spock" he said into the head piece "You’re needed in the hallway babe"  
He heard a long suffering sigh and mutter of " _I wish he wouldn't do that_ " before a much clearer "I'm on my way"  
Jim stalked off, hoping the three could somehow fix it before the lights dimmed at the end of the scene.

* * *

 

" _Dammit Jim_ , I'm a TD not a Doctor" spat Leonard, supporting Christine as she braced herself on his shoulder.  
Jim looked at his technical director in dismay.

They were at the home-stretch now. Chekov, Sulu, and Spock, showing masterful command of a glue gun, managed to tentatively fix the statue, and prevented it from falling over in the middle of the scene by assigning a particularly tiny freshman to crouch behind it, supporting it through the leading lady's five minute monologue. It figured that now, just before the final scene (which required all hands on deck, both on and back stage), the ATD would twist her ankle tripping over a coil of rope (left by a newbie who had cleared the stage after the previous scene. Jim added him to his list of people to reprimand). Just perfect. He turned to her. "Can you walk?"  
She shook her head, and Leonard shot him a look which plainly said ' _No, because she twisted her ankle dumbass_ '.  
He sighed "Just take it easy, Chris, sit on a crate and delegate"  
She grinned, and he couldn't help but smile back.  
"Bones, you're with me, and if you find that Mitchell kid anywhere, let me know, I want to talk to him about leaving props lying around."  
"You can have him when I'm done with him" came the growled response, and Jim smirked. Bones was very protective over what he considered _his_ department.  
"Uhura, tell me you figured out what was screwing with headset 1"  
"Sorry Jim, I don't know what's wrong with it."  
He sighed, and turned to Leonard "Any ideas Bones? He can't borrow someone's because everyone else is on stage too."  
Bones thought for a minute and said "He's addressing a crowd, right?"  
Jim nodded, and heard Uhura mutter in agreement.  
"Give him a handheld then, that should work"  
Jim beamed "This is why I keep you around" he said, punching his friend's shoulder. Bones muttered something that sounded like _"damn infant"_ but his tone was fond. "Uhura, you heard the man"  
"Yup, already on it"  
Jim felt the tension leave his shoulders as he joined Bones who had already begun prepping the other techies for their cue. The show was almost over; this may not be an unmitigated disaster.

* * *

 

The last scene went off without a single issue, and the entire backstage crew let out a collective sigh of relief when the curtains were drawn. The show was a success, the audience loved it. Of course, no one congratulated them, and it was the actors who got the applause during curtain call, but when they all piled into various cars, still in their stage blacks, and headed to the IHOP down the street (late-night pancakes were a long standing tradition among Starfleet High techies) Jim couldn't help being insanely proud of his crew.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've never been a techie, I would recommend it. It's a lot of fun, especially if (like me) you're interested in drama but want to stay out of the limelight. Even if you aren't as prone to stage fright as I am, it's a pretty easy transition between actor and techie. You have to be careful though, because theater people take commitment very seriously. Anyway, I hope you liked!


End file.
